Rumble Tumble, Here Comes Bumble
by AshWolf Forever
Summary: The story of an egotistical Troll, a Lone Drone to be specific. Only a foot tall but with an attitude befitting someone six times his size, Bumble is a force to be reckoned with. His past has given him little reason to trust and much less to want to be part of a group. But sometimes what we want isn't what we need. Based on the online RP "Troll-Warriorz". Rated for swearing.


*******Author's Note: Clone and Lone Drones, Troll-Warroirz etc. and the character of Rinja the Lion is (C) Rinjapine on deviantART. Bumble, in all his rough glory, is mine.***

Bumble tore the antenna from his head and added it to the pile of machinery in his arms, glaring at the other Drone before throwing it straight into his thorax and suggesting he do something with it that was anatomically impossible.

The other Drone sputtered. "You can't just walk out, Number 45! Get back to your post this second. That's an order."

Bumble's only response was to make a gesture that looked strange with only three fingers over his shoulder as he walked away. The violet Drone walked through the hive head held high, ignoring the blood dripping down his cheek and the shocked expressions on the faces all around him.

One member pushed through the throng and stopped him with hand to his chest. "What do you think you're doing? _Are you insane?_ It's not safe outside a hive."

He shoved the hand away. "I won't stay where I'm not welcome. I won't stay where I cannot decide my own fate." He met the other Drone's eyes, and saw his regret mirrored in them. "And someday, you won't either." With that he pushed passed the one member of the hive he would miss. Once he stood outside, he threw his hands into the air. "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, I'm free at last." He took to the air and off into the world.

The first night alone was the worst. It was colder than he had imagined it would be. The wound from where he'd impulsively ripped out the antenna ached, and his wings felt frozen. As he huddled under the slim protection of some fallen leaves, he forced himself to be strong. He reached up a hand to touch his bare wing where the number forty-five had once been branded, and vowed to never bear that badge of shame again. He would be number one or nothing at all. Determined, he curled up into a ball and tried to sleep.

"Hey, you all right there, little fellow?"

Bumble opened his eyes to find a pair of white paws in front of him. Feeling like he was very much stuck in the _Balto_ movie, his eyes slowly followed the legs up to find the scarred face of a white lioness with a crazy hair-do staring down at him. He jumped back comically and buzzed into the air. "Don't ever do that again! Carnivores, OY!"

The white lioness laughed. "Oh, a _Lion King_ fan! You're a spunky little guy aren't you?" She sat down and held out a paw. "Name's Rinja, nice to meet you."

Confused, Bumble took the paw in both his hands and shook it. "Name's Bumble."

"Well, Bumble," said Rinja. "You live under this leaf or do you have somewhere to go?"

"Not at the moment," he admitted, shivering slightly in the breeze. "I've recently had to relocate, as my beliefs weren't welcome in my hive."

Rinja reached out and tucked him into the fur of her shoulder and started to walk away from the trees. "Well, if you like, I can introduce you to some of my friends who might give you a new home."

As the warmth settled in, Bumble sighed. "That sounds wonderful."

"So, what beliefs got you kicked out?"

The Lone Drone decided not to correct the assumption. "Scar's Nala's father."

Rinja laughed out loud. "Oh! You believe that, too? Well, I know at least one friend you should get along with just fine. Her name's Ash."

Bumble sat next to Rinja as the various tamers each tried to entice him to join their team. One in particular caught his attention, as she stayed on the fringes of the gathering - a yellow and white wolf with a rainbow collar.

"He's... cute," said the she-wolf. "However, he reminds me of a bee/wasp, thus I will sit over here where it's safe... Otherwise, I might try."

"Ah!" said Rinja. "But he'd be _your_ little wasp!" The lioness winked.

"Wasps make me scream "EEK!" and run like a little girl," said the wolf with skeptical look on her face. "Then again I _did_ have an imaginary bee friend once. I think I killed him."

"Whoopsy," laughed Rinja. "Killed the imaginary friend!"

The wolf snickered. "As he disappeared, I assume so. Most of them just turned into to characters." She sighed. "OK, you win; I will try for this guy." She turned to look at him, and shuddered a little bit. "We will get along fine if you promise to attack the other bees and anything else with a stinger. Understand?"

He nodded, rolling his eyes.

She smiled. "Good. Though that purple-pink color must bug you being a guy..."

Rinja noticed his smug expression. "I'm sure he preens in his pinkness."

_Actually, I'm just happy with who I am,_ he thought. _Too bad everyone else isn't._

"Hey, I know what he can do! Protect us Nala-is-Scar's-daughter fans!"

That got his attention. A slow smile crossed his face. _Afraid of wasps, and a fellow fan, _he thought, rubbing his hands together. "You have a name, wise one?"

She nodded. "AshWolf," she replied. "Writer of a small fanfic series called _The Lion King and the Jungle Emperor_." She rolled her eyes. "Have to calm people down somehow after Disney played copycat with the _Kimba _story."

His eyes lit up and he grinned. _Perfect. _There was no doubt in his mind who to choose when Rinja asked for his pick after everyone had left. He found his match – a fellow fan of his favorite theories, afraid of his kind. He was sure they'd get along fine. _And there's no way she'll boss me around if she's scared of me._

"OK, Bumble," said AshWolf as she showed him around. "You can build your nest on my group page. That way you'll have plenty of interaction with other fans."

He just nodded. He was starting to feel a bit guilty. _She's obviously uncomfortable,_ he thought, _as she flinches if I move too fast_. He wandered over to the keyboard and typed "wasp nest" in the search bar. She thought him a wasp, rather than a bee, so it seemed fitting to base his new home on one of their nests. Several pictures came up, and he scrolled through them. _Nope, nope,_ he thought. There were too many wasps _on_ the nests to get a good view. _Not that either._ He heard a sharp intake of breath and turned to find AshWolf watching the screen with horror.

"Eek," she said softly, her eyes wide as could be. "Eek, eek. Not real, get a grip, Ash, just a photo. Not real, not real, _NOT REAL._" She ducked down and covered her head with her paws.

Bumble's jaw dropped and he rushed to close the tab. Then he flew over and lifted one of her paws. "Hey, are you OK?"

She kept her eyes tightly clenched shut. "This is _so_ pathetic," she said. "Afraid of pictures. You should see me with the live ones. At least I didn't _scream_ EEK!"

He swallowed hard. _And you were going to scare her if she bossed you around, _he thought. _You selfish jerk._ "I can go," he offered, thinking she'd get rid of him anyway. He would if he was in her place.

She opened her eyes and slowly sat up. "No," she said, "no it's OK. I've got to get over this somehow. And what better way than to befriend what scares me?"

"Friend?" he repeated. "You… want to be friends?"

"Sure," she said with a smile. "Don't you?"

Right then and there, he vowed to never try and scare her. She earned his respect with her simple acceptance of him. The least he could do was return the favor. He smiled. "I think I would."

She hesitantly patted his head. "It's nice not to be alone, is it?"

"Yeah, it is." For the first time, he felt at home.


End file.
